Prompt 20

“Write a scene in which a woman was fired after only a week on the job. Just a week earlier, the same person who is now firing her was very persuasive in convincing her to take the job”

She couldn’t believe it.

As she picked up the few things she had accumulated on her desk during her first week at the Owl Grove Publishing House, Lena was in a stunned state of shock that she couldn’t shake off.

How could this have happened? She had turned down other offers for this job!

Why?

Why was this happening?

She wracked her brain to try and understand what she could have done for Marion to fire her after just 5 days. She had pushed quite aggressively for Lena to accept the offer for Junior Publisher. She had risen the salary offer, offered a corporate credit card, access to world class authors, the works. It had almost felt too good to be true.

Now the other shoe seemed to be dropping.

Lena had been thrilled on her first day. Marion had put her to work with her own husband, Paul. Lena had found it weird that Paul worked for his wife, but figured she was in no place to judge…

Wait a second.

Did this have something to do with the two of them?

Paul had been really pleasant all week, and Lena was sure she’d enjoy working with him. But on Thursday he had acted a little weird, being extra nice and considerate, and every time he had talked to her, he kept glancing toward Marion’s office, as if he was checking to see if she was looking in our direction.

Damn.

Had she been brought in just to be a pawn in their little jealous game?

Lena sighed. No, that can’t be it. People aren’t that manipulative and self serving, are they?

She tried thinking through the hiring process and that whole first week to see if she could spot any clues. This can’t just have been a power play for Marion within her own marriage.

Lena had a sinking feeling that was just getting worse and worse.

She couldn’t believe this had happened. There was no way to prove any of it.

What was she going to do? Would any of the previous offers still be open?